School's Out For Now
by Holly-Batali
Summary: Sequel to Angel Experience. Max is captured, and the flock needs help to get to her. Where else to go than Kat in Seattle? Crazy hacker/inventor Chi Kit, a very bored Max, and Fang trying to lead.
1. Change Of Direction

School's Out—For Now

By Holly-Batali

Disclaimer: KAT IS BACK! AND SHE IS MINE! (Max & co. are not mine, but I've got Kat, so HA!)

Chapter One: Change of Direction

Max hated mornings. The only things she hated more than an early morning were erasers, scientists, school, and bad coffee.

As she kicked the flock awake, she thought about just how _much _she hated mornings. It was what she thought as she got the fire going. It was what she thought as Iggy was fixing breakfast.

Ten seconds later, it was the _last _thing on her mind.

There was absolutely no warning as a pack of erasers charged through the camp, attacking them. Max had just enough time to look up from the fire before she was tackled head-on by an huge eraser. She rolled as they grappled, towards the fire. Ignoring the burning sting, she thrust her hand into the fire and threw a handful of embers into the face of her attacker. He screamed and scrambled to his feet, holding his face in his paws. Max turned sideways and kicked with all her strength into his face, sending him flying.

She could see Fang and Nudge, back to back, attacking two erasers each; Iggy was holding his own with two, but a third and fourth were lumbering towards him. Angel and Gazzy were attacking as many as they could, but it was a losing battle.

"Impressive, isn't it?"

Max's head snapped around to stare, wide-eyed, at the figure behind her. It was a figure that had haunted her for months, plaguing her in her waking hours as well as her sleeping hours. It was a face that she despised and pitied, it was a face that she wanted to break and wanted to help. It was a face that she had seen the life drain out of. It was a face she had last seen dead.

Ari.

"Surprised to see me, Max?" he sneered, his voice seething with hate. "Well this isn't the only surprise you're going to get." His fist snapped back and then the next thing Max knew, it was aimed straight for her own face. She didn't even feel it connect.

* * *

"MAX!" Fang heard Nudge's scream and whipped around in time to see Max crumple to the ground. Ari was standing behind her, his fist pulling back, a look of savage triumph on his face. Ari. Fang didn't have time to be shocked, he had to act; _now. _

"Come on Nudge," he yelled to her. They sprinted over to Max, leaving their opponents behind. They had to get Max, and get out of here. "IGGY! GAZZY! ANGEL! U AND A! NOW!" he shouted. The three of them snapped out their wings and sky-rocketed upwards. Fang snatched up Max and he and Nudge followed. Almost.

Nudge made it, but Fang was sent sprawling as something grabbed at his ankle, pulling him back down. "Oh no you don't," Ari snarled at him.

"Watch me," Fang snarled back. He pulled back his free foot and thrust it at full-force into the eraser's face. Ari growled, and Fang heard the severing of nasal cartilage. he smiled in grim satisfaction.

Ari shouted muffled orders to the erasers, but Fang didn't understand them. Apparently though, the erasers did; no sooner had the words left his great ugly muzzle than they advanced on Fang and Max. Fang's wide-eyed gaze darted around, but he couldn't see any visable escape; Ari still had an impenetrable grip on his ankle, and he had to get Max out of here. Fast.

* * *

Speaking of Max, she was coming around. She groaned once, shaking her head and frowning. "Owww." she moaned.

"Max, get up! Now!" the urgency in Fang's voice brought her around fast. Her eyes snapped open and she jumped up. She saw the charging erasers, the rest of the flock circling above, and Ari's death grip on Fang's ankle. Fang was fighting wildly, throwing as many kicks and punches and twists at Ari as he could. They were hurried, but still surgically precise. He couldn't get Ari loose though; he wasn't going to make it!

Max launched herself at Ari, and the breath whooshed out of him, his grip slackening. Fang leaped up and, before Ari could reach him again, jumped away.

"We need to get out of here!" he yelled at Max, who was still rolling on the ground, punching out Ari's guts.

"Go on," she yelled back. "I'll be right behind you. GO!" He hesitated, then sprang up, his wings snapping out with enough speed and force that several feathers fell to the ground. He launched himself away from the fight and up to join the others.

He swerved violently as he felt the first of the bullets from the erasers whiz by him.

"Come on," he shouted to the flock. "Scatter!"

"But what about Max," shrieked the Gasman.

"She'll be fine! Now _move!" _They did as he said, and the flock broke up, pulling up at different angles to get out of the way of the ascending hail of bullets. Fang turned back in time to see Max shoot up from the ground, putting on as much speed as she could muster.

"Come on guys," she yelled, "let's blow this joint!" She headed south, and the flock followed.

But the erasers were still desperately shooting, and one of them had good aim.

Max shouted in surprise, pain and alarm as a bullet tore straight through her right wing, leaving a gaping hole. She instinctively snapped in her wing, and she plummeted crookedly. Fang heard the snap of bone as the wind forced on her left wing at the wrong angle. She was helpless, and the erasers knew it.

Fang tried to dive, but the screen of bullets prevented just that. He watched, powerless, as Max slammed into the ground. She was immedietly surrounded by erasers and stuffed into a tarp. They grabbed her and ran. The remaining erasers--who outnumbered the departing ones by far--continued to shoot at the rest of the flock.

Sooner or later, one of them was going to get hit.

Just like Max.

"BAIL!" he screamed at the flock. "GET OUT OF HERE, NOW!" He took the lead, heading south.

Everyone except Max.

After a few miles, Nudge pulled up beside Fang, tears streaming down her cheeks, then whipped away by the wind. "What about Max?" she asked him.

Fang took a deep breath. They didn't know anything about where she was, who had ordered it, or--or anything! They needed a plan, they needed information, they needed...

_Wait..._

There _was _someone with all the information. There _was _someone who could find Max.

Kat.

"Come on guys," he yelled back to the others. "Set course for North-West. We're heading to Seattle!"

He heard the excited whoops and yells of the flock, despite the solemn situation. _Back _to Seattle.

* * *

Authors Note: It's official. KAT. IS. BACK!! (Almost)


	2. Calling in the Cavalry

School's Out—For Now

By Holly-Batali

Disclaimer: Ha ha, JP I get Kat! Well, you get the flock...but the flock don't have cool cat ears! _Or _a tail!

Chapter Two: Calling in the Cavalry

_"Xiè xiè, zaì jiàn!" _Kat laughed as a young Asian girl exited the store. She opened the cash register and deposited the money, recording the deal on a notepad in clear characters. She straightened her zebra stripe bucket hat and wiped her hands on her blue t-shirt and dark jeans. The phone rang, and she answered it, holding the phone between her left ear and shoulder.

"_Nĭ hăo_," she answered. She nodded; "_hăo...__hăo le." _She jotted down a few notes on her notepad, often using pictures when words escaped her; she was still learning to write. "_Hèn hăo;_ _zaì jiàn." _She hung up the phone and rolled her eyes. "Chi Kit!" she called to the back room. A shaggy black head stuck out of the gap between the door and the frame.

"_Shénme?_"

"_Xiàn zài liăng diăn zhōng; __Kuài kuài de păo_!" _It's already 2:00; hurry up! _She shook her head and rolled her eyes; the moron was going to be late for his deliveries again. He looked at his watch and muttered an exclamation. He ran back into the back room to grab his jacket and his book bag. Kat turned back to the desk and rolled her eyes.

The phone rang again, and she answered it brusquely. "_Nĭ hăo," _she answered in a friendly voice. Then her expression turned disbelieving, but joyful. Overjoyed, in fact. "Fang!" she shouted happily. "I can't believe it! How are you guys doing?" She jumped up to sit on the edge of the counter, smiling broadly. Then her smile slipped; she swore in Chinese. "_hăo le..._okay. Ohhh," she smirked. "You need my help, do you?" She laughed at the response and hopped off the desk. "Got a pen and paper ready?"

* * *

"Okay Kat, thanks. Yeah I'll see you soon. Bye." Fang hung up the pay phone and capped his pen, stuffing pen and paper into his jacket pocket. He walked around to back of the Chevron gas station to the impatient remainder of the flock.

"Well?" asked Nudge, running up to meet him, then falling into stride beside him.

"We're heading back to Seattle." he said, monotone. The flock cheered enthusiastically.

"Are we gonna see Kat?" asked Gazzy, excited.

"Yup."

"Are we gonna save Max?" asked Angel.

"Yup."

"Can we get something to eat when we get there?" Nudge asked. "Oh, can we go to Elliot's again?"

Fang sighed. "Yup."

"Can I blow some stuff up?" asked Iggy casually.

"Yu-NO!"

"Dang it," Iggy hissed under his breath.

"It was worth a try," Gazzy murmured sympathetically.

"Right," said Fang, more than a little annoyed. "Let's roll. Come on guys, get up and let's go!"

They all hopped up and spread out their wings. Fang led the way as they soared up and away. It was tough keeping these guys in line, though. _Gotta give her credit, _thought Fang testily. _It's no picnic making these guys straighten up and fly right. Literally._

* * *

Authors Note: Short, I know. But I'll make up for it, I promise.


	3. Good to be Back

School's Out—For Now

By Holly-Batali

Disclaimer: KAT IS BACK! AND SHE IS MINE! (Max & co. are not mine, but I've got Kat, so HA!)

Chapter Three: Good to be Back

The skyline of Seattle was amazing. Fang smiled appreciatively as the sun shone down on the backs of the flock and the buildings below. It was a hot and sunny day, and the streets of Seattle were crowded to the max. Fang barrel-rolled in midair, enjoying the weightlessness that he experienced every time he flew. He never got tired of it. He pushed down at a straight ninety-degree angle to the ground.

He landed on the ground underneath Pier 57, Kat's favorite meeting place. They climbed up the rail and walked over to the outdoor patio of Elliot's. Gazzy, Angel, and Nudge were chattering excitedly, and Iggy was telling Fang about the stuff he and Kat were going to blow up while they were here. As cool as Kat was, Fang thought, she should _never _have said anything about explosives to Iggy. It was bad enough when Gazzy helped him out, but Kat actually had a talent for it. Just his luck...

"'Kay guys," he said in an undertone. The rest of them turned to him expectantly. "Stay low, a'right? We're not here to party, we're here to find Kat and get Max back. Got it?" They all nodded.

They walked brusquely over to the railing of the restaurant's patio, waiting for Kat. Fang glanced around, impressed in spite of himself at the sheer advancement of the place; it was better than New York. Better by far. He could see almost everyone walking around with cell phones and electronic organizers; he saw people dressed in clothes that looked expensive enough to buy yourself a pet eraser. Though why anyone would want one of those was beyond Fang.

He was suddenly brought back to reality by a three-way squeal from the younger members of the flock. "KAT!" they yelled! Fang glanced over sharply at where they were running. So much for blending in.

Kat was striding towards them with a broad smile on her face. She looked a lot better than she had when they first saw her. She was wearing olive cargo pants and a grey three-quarters sleeve shirt. She also had on her signature combat boots and zebra-stripe bucket hat...and the silver cat necklace that the flock had pitched in to buy for her. They had sent it last month in a Miss You card that Angel had picked out.

Angel, Nudge, and Gazzy barreled into her, almost knocking her flat on her back. She laughed and hugged them tightly, walking over to Iggy and Fang. "We missed you!" Nudge was squealing.

"Yeah, we haven't seen you in _ages!_" said Gazzy.

"Technically," said Angel, her voice muffled by Kat's shirt, "it's only been four months. But it feels like forever!"

"Didja miss us Kat? Did ya?" shrieked Nudge and Gazzy.

"I missed you guys tons," she said, laughing happily. Finally, half dragging her attackers with her. Fang rolled his eyes and pulled Nudge and Gazzy off by their collars, dropping them on the pavement. He glared at Angel and she stepped away from Kat hastily, folding her arms behind her back and looking up, the mutant picture of innocence.

"Hey Iggy!" Kat said excitedly. She gave a wide and genuine smile and moved forward to throw her arms around the lanky pyro. He grinned broadly and hugged her back.

"Hey Kat! Good to see you 'gain." Then he whispered something to her and she grinned mischievously. It was that Cheshire cat grin of hers.

"No blowing stuff up!" Fang said sternly. They both rolled their eyes innocently mumbling "wouldn't dream of it." He would have to keep a _very _close eye on the two of them.

"Nice to see you too, Fang," she said, smiling. He reached out his hand to shake hers, but she ignored it, hugging him instead. Fang went stiff, his hand still out. His left eye started to twitch. He could hear the others laughing--and Gazzy telling Iggy all about it. Kat laughed evilly and let go. "Next stop: holding therapy." she muttered conspiratorially. This brought on even more obnoxious laughter.

"All of you shut up," he said sternly.

Was he really surprised that they didn't listen to him at all?

* * *

"So, talk to me." Kat unwrapped her straw from its paper casing and stuck it into her soda. "How long since Max got taken out?" She ignored the winces from the flock and sipped her root beer, all her casual attention on the plastic lid of her cup.

"About three days," answered Fang promptly. _Ooh, _she though, _someone's touchy today._

"How many of them?" Kat asked.

"What?"

"Erasers. How many of them were there?" She didn't even look up as she dug into her fish. Her face unconcerned and cool.

Fang sighed heavily. "Dunno. Too many. At least seventy-five."

Kat still didn't look up, but her eyebrows rose. "Seventy-five," she muttered. "Hmmm. Any idea which direction they went?"

"No," said Fang with forced patience. "If we did, don't you think we'd have gone after them?"

"Well _duh_," she said, her attention on the sparkling water. "Do you have anything _useful _to tell me?"

"We saw them carrying Max north, north-east, but they could have just been going to a car."

Kat nodded sagely. "So they could." Then she grinned that evil grin of hers. "Luckily for you, I have my ways. Which include," she whipped out a shiny silver cell phone and flipped it open and began to dial, ignoring the wide eyes of the flock; "a computer genius who can hack into every computer system around the world from any point of his choice," she finished, already distracted from talking. She held the phone to her ear and waited for someone to answer.

"_Chi Kit, nĭ hăo...__tīng__;_ _wŏ yào..." _

She saw Fang and the others staring blankly at her as she continued talking. "_hăo le__._.._èr __shí __wŭ fēn; sān diăn bàn. Shì__. Xiè xiè, Chi Kit. __Zaì jiàn.__" _Kat hung up the phone and put it in her back pocket. "He'll meet us at three-thirty, at the shop. Eat up, we've only got twenty-five minutes to get there."

"Get where?" Angel asked, her mouth full of fish and chips.

Kat smiled knowingly and sipped her soda, a smug expression on her face, and her eyebrows rose ominously. "The Bat Cave."

She repressed a laugh at the look on their faces.

* * *

Authors Note: Well? Once again, I apologize if I screwed up the tone marks on the Mandarin.


	4. Fun With Toys

School's Out—For Now

By Holly-Batali

Disclaimer: I get Kat, JP gets flock. Fair trade? Sure. Personally, I think I got a pretty good end of the stick. (Plus I get monkey boy)

Chapter Four: Fun With Toys

"The first thing to learn in Seattle," instructed Kat as they walked brusquely to the bus stop, "the city of all technolgy that is better than everywhere else, is that you never ever _ever _mess with a hacker. Especially when that hacker sneaks into CIA classified files in his spare time, is fluent in two languages--actually three, if you seperate Mandarin and Cantonese--and works in a Chinese store inventing fun "toys". Unless you're me. Got it?"

"Yup," said Nudge through a mouthful of food. Her life's philosophy was apparently still linked to take-out.

Kat led them onto the bus as they reached it, just as it pulled up. Kat payed the fares and the stood up, grabbing the metal poles in the aisles.

"So who is this hacker guy?" muttered Fang, leaning forward to talk to Kat.

She smiled her trademark Cheshire cat grin, her hands in her pockets, and said, "oh, you'll meet him soon enough."

"Can we get a name here?" Kat found a certain satisfaction in hearing an impatient note in Fang's voice. It was nice to be a step ahead of him.

"Sure. Chi Kit. Any more questions?"

"Yup."

"Any you think I'll actually answer right now?"

"Nope."

"Didn't think so." there was that smug smile again.

By the time they got there, "there" being a store with a sign all written out in strange characters. "Home sweet home," said Kat cheerfully. She opened the door and stepped inside, ignoring the cheery twinkling of a small bell above the doorway. _"Chi Kit!" _She yelled. _"Chi Kit!" _An average-height Asian boy with unruly black hair and a slow-looking face stuck his head out of the doorway.

_"Shénme?"_

Kat moved inside, beckoning the others to do the same. _"Chi Kit, __zhè shì Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gazzy, __hé Angel."_

Chi Kit waved in a friendly manner. _"Nĭ mén hăo." _Then he ducked back into his back room.

Kat smirked. "Follow me." She sauntered gracefully to the door that Chi Kit had left wide open. She pushed it open and walked into a small storeroom. She turned abruptly left and proudly pushed open a set of metal double doors.

The flock gasped. Fang raised an eyebrow.

There was an entire room _full _of computers and equipment. Flashing lights twinkled down at them, impressive and intimidating. There were monitoring screens, radar screens, morse code decipherers, scanners, fax machines--everything.

"Welcome to the Ultimate Masters Lair," said Chi Kit in a heavily Cantonese-accented English, though fluent nonetheless. "More commonly known as "The Bat Cave."This is where I do my genius work."

Kat snorted softly. "And host the weekly local Dungeons and Dragons meetings," she scoffed quietly.

_"__Naí niŭ," _Chi Kit muttered, glaring and blushing.

Kat's glare was claw-sharp. _"__Qĭng wèn?" _she asked sharply. "Watch it, "_hŏuzì _boy." She gestured at the control panels pulled out in from of the boy. "Well? Get on with it!" He grimaced but complied.

"_Hăo lė. _Well, this here is your standard city-wide surveillance equipment, complete with bomb-detection, might I add. Plus, we've got a house special over here," he said, reaching under the desk to pull out a small cell phone-sized silver gadget. "This is Kat's favorite. It's a nice little Anti-Itex device; or, as we affectionately call it, the _wŏ mén bù xīhuán Itex _gadget; the "We Hate Itex" gadget, if you will. You see," he was excited now, in his element completely, "everything Itex has a certain 'aura' about it, if you will. The chemicals that they use, the experiments they conduct; well, it leaves a sort of residue, which sticks to them like glue. And this baby picks up on it fast, so that'll give you some warning. Plus, it looks freaking awesome." He shook his head admirably at his own genius.

"Oh, I almost forgot--not." He reached behind a metal electrical box, which was covered in technical switches and red lights on buttons, and opened it up with a quick fingerprint-sensetive lock, and pulled out a wide, thin silver wrist band, almost like a bracelet. "This--is going to help you guys a freakin' _ton. _This'll detect Max for you."

"Oh really?" asked Fang, interested but trying not to let it show. "How?"

"It's not just a flashy piece of jewely," said Kat sarcastically from where she was sitting, legs crossed on one of the metal desks, fiddling with a black walkie-talkie. She pressed one of the red switches on the left side of the box. It gave off a strange sound, like some kind of howler monkey call; she switched it off, her face impassive. "Hey Chi Kit," she said vaguely, "you're moon cake detector is busted again."

"I'm glad you asked," said Chi Kit, looking even more pleased by Fang's curiosity, if a little embarrased from Kat's remark. "It has a sensor in it that picks up on the genetical patterns of recombuttent DNA life forms, which will not only find Erasers, but this Max of yours as well. You may well ask 'well won't it just keep going off around us?' and you may well ask that. But see, I've built in a DNA scanner, so all you have to do is imput your own DNA patterns in the 'drive and it'll keep quiet. _"Dóng bù dóng?" _he asked with a one-handed thumbs-up or thumbs-down gesture.

Fang blinked, uncomprehending. He glanced at Kat. "Huh?"

"He means do you understand? If yes, dial three. If no--" she intoned in a perky voice. "Oh forget it. _Dóng _is 'yes, I understand.' _Bù dóng _is 'no, I have no freakin' clue what you're talking about." She went back to absently fiddling with the moon cake detector.

"Uh, okay, yeah, sure. Um,_ dóng?" _Chi Kit nodded.

"_Hăo lė. _Well, I need to perfect them further; if that's possible," he added smugly, "so why don't you guys go have some fun. It'll take a little while, since I've got a lot to do. Kat's gotta finish up her shift, then you guys can stop by Seattle Rocks or somethin'. In the meanwhile, I will be the genius that I always am. Got it?"

"Yup," said Fang, completely monotone.

"Well, let's roll," said Kat, hopping down and putting down the gadget. "I'll just finish up my last two hours of my shift, then we can _really _go out to eat, 'kay?" They all agreed. "Well, let's leave _hŏuzì _boy here to his work."

Iggy walked next to her, muttering in her ear. "oh, for--" Fang restrained himself from finishing as he picked out the words "explosives", "C2", and "while Fang's asleep". _They're never going to give up, are they?!_

Once again, he had to give Max credit for keeping these twits in line. He shook his head as he re-entered the shop and sat down on the stool beside Kat's behind the desk.

He just hoped Max was okay.

* * *

Authors Note: HA! My favorite SOFN chapter that I've written so far. Long live the computer nerds! Sorry, real Chi Kit, I had to steal your name. (Not that he cares, I've never actually talked to him, even though he's been sitting across from me in Chinese class all freaking school year.)

This is getting really fun; I can really play with Kat's character in this one since she's not all tense and wound-up in this one.

Oh, and if you wanted to know, here's a little Chinese-English dictionary. If you want me to keep putting it in each chapter, than just let me know. Email me or stick it in your review, 'kay?

_Shénme--_What

_zhè--_this

_shì--_is

_hé--_and

_Nĭ mén hăo--_Hello (to multiple people at once. If you're saying hello to one person, it's just _Nĭ __hăo.)_

_Naí niŭ--_Cow (directly, it's 'milk cow')

_Qĭng wèn--_excuse me

_hŏuzì--_monkey

_wŏ mén bù xīhuán--_We don't like. Broken down, it's 'I', (multiple people), 'not/no', 'like'.

_Dóng bù dóng--_Do you understand

_Dóng--_Use this for 'I understand.'

_bù dóng--_Use this for 'I don't understand.'


	5. Ways to Pass the Time

School's Out--For Now  
By Holly-Batali

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Max or anything that JP came up with first. _Capiche_?

Chapter Five: Ways to Pass the Time

Max woke up irritably as her crate was slammed onto a cart, and then she was being wheeled off to another lab. She rolled her eyes and sneered up at the whitecoat pushing the cart; a tall gangly guy with greasy black hair and big glasses.

"Great career choice _twit,_" she snarled at him. "I'm sure your mother is just so proud!" He blushed but kept on rolling the cart. "You know," Max went on, on a roll since she really had nothing to loose. Plus she was just about dying from boredom. "'Scientist' isn't all that bad of a career choice; but 'evil scientist intent on destroying as many lives as possible?' I don't _think _so buddy!" She looked around the hallway and snorted in disgust. "You guy's are a bunch of losers, you know that? I swear, if..." she ranted on and on, desperate for any outlet for her anger and boredom.

"AND _THAT'S _WHAT I THINK ABOUT YOUR MOTHER!" She finished as a furiously blushing scientist wheeled her into a white lab and closed the door. She inhaled heavily, trying to catch her breath; it felt incredibly good to insult a whitecoat that much; she was winded just thinking about it.

* * *

Max snarled as her crate was dumped back on the shelf. Once she heard the metal doors close, signaling the exit of the two whitecoats, she winced and rubbed her side. After all of their stupid tests and examinations, she was sore and stiff. _There's a reason why we escaped in the first place, _she thought bitterly.

She was sick of being here, and, though she would never _never _admit it, she wasn't exactly calm. They had been keeping her on calming drugs, so she hadn't completely cracked--yet. She snarled again, just for the heck of it, and ignored the other experiments that hedged away from her. At least they hadn't gotten the rest of the flock.

She frowned.

Speaking of the flock, where were they? She was certain that they were coming, but it _had _only been five or six days...hadn't it?

She stretched her legs as best she could, and leaned back, banging her head on the back of her cage. She had forgotten how miserable and boring it was being back here. She laughed quietly as she remembered the games she Fang and Iggy used to play while they were stuck in here. They used to take bets on which of them could make a scientist the maddest and how long it would take them. She had usually won, and had used those "skills" many times since, often _on _Fang and Iggy. _Especially _Fang.

She smirked. It was hard to get Fang to get extremely annoyed, but she had quite a talent for it.

She remembered when the three of them had taken turns guessing what kind of a lousy life certain whitecoats had; they took pleasure in getting under their skin when they yelled out their guesses, purposely so that the whitecoast in question could hear whether he had a pink convertible or a Spiderman bicycle to ride to work.

She shifted uncomfortably, the cage being too small for her five-foot-eight frame.

_Sure, take your time Fang. HURRY UP DANG IT!_

Geez, where was that twit?


	6. After Dinner Activity

School's Out--For Now

By Holly-Batali

Disclaimer: All credit for everything but Kat and Chi Kit (oh, and Seattle Rocks, which I invented) goes to James Patterson, and again, if I make mistakes with any Mandarin tone marks I apologize. Formal enough?

Chapter Six: After-Dinner Activity

"Welcome to Seattle Rocks, may I take your order?" Kat glanced up at the tall. blond gangly waiter, then at the flock.

"Yeah; we'll start with some crab cakes and the smoked salmon, please." she flashed him a dazzling smile and he blinked.

"Yeah, okay. Um, I'll be right back with that." He shook his head and walked away.

Nudge giggled evilly. "That was funny. I should do that sometime."

"Maybe you should," Kat said. "But whatever."

"Crab cakes?" Fang asked, slightly disgusted; he was never crazy about fish.

She looked at him blankly, "you can't come to Seattle and _not _have crab cakes. Come on Fang, get with the program!" She teased, a playful smirk on her face, eyebrows raised in a silent challenge.

"Chi Kit is really cool," Angel said absently, playing with her straw. "Does he make a lot of that stuff? The gadgets, I mean."

"Yeah, he does," Kat answered, rolling her eyes. "He's always screwing around with 'em. He makes a lot of useless junk; stuff like pen refillers and and bobble heads that move in time to music. But he makes some cool stuff too; like that moon cake detector? I would have _died--_well, okay, maybe gone hungry until the lunch break--many a time if it weren't for that wonderful little piece of crap.

"He is pretty weird though," she said thoughtfully. "I mean, you know. For Chi Kit." _But, he's family. Just like the flock._

* * *

"I'm _stuffed,_" said Nudge, clutching her stomach. Fang raised his eyebrows.

"You? Full? Has Hell frozen over?"

"Watch the language _Fnick_," Iggy muttered sarcastically. Fang scowled at him.

"So where now?" asked Fang grumpily. He was fed up with the leadership thing; Kat could tell. It was nice to back with her family, even if they _did _drive her up the wall to the point where she wanted to claw their eyes out, kill them, and them dump their body in the ocean.

Not that she was to that point. Yet.

"We're heading back to the shop to check on Chi Kit's gear, then you guys'll settle in. You're staying with me and family I work for part-time. You guys cool with that?"

"Where is it?" asked the Gasman curiously.

"It's a penthouse apartment downtown; just a few blocks uphill from here. Well, let's get walkin.'" She got up and left the check on the table and walked out of the door. "The family I work for, the Goldman's, they're pretty cool. There's the wife, Marie, and then there's the husband, Jeff. They have triplets, eight years old; Kathie, Dave, and George. They're really cute; not as cute as Gazzy and Angel here, but--" She froze mid-sentance, staring alertly into the darkness ahead of her.

"Kat?" She ignored Fang as her eyes raked the darkness. She could swear she had heard a growl...maybe, it just a stray dog.

But Kat didn't believe in 'maybes.' Nor did she believe in coincidence.

She turned her head slightly to look at the flock. "I could have sworn--" she was cut off again as something huge and heavy slammed into her from the darkness she had just been inspecting, knocking her to the ground. She didn't need the hot canine breath and the reverberating growl to know what it was.

Eraser.

Kat hissed violently and rammed her elbow into the Eraser's ugly muzzle, then followed through with knee to the stomach. The Eraser fell off of her and she flipped to her feet, taking stock of the situation. There were seven total; if each of the flock took one, she could take the other two, no problem.

She smiled grimly and twisted around, cobra-like, to sink her right foot into the stomach of the second eraser, then she flipped, facing away from the eraser, her legs on his shoulders. She bent her arms, bringing down the eraser over her head. She straddled him and brought out her claws, slashing at his face. The Eraser screamed and she smiled grimly. "Be glad it wasn't the fangs," she snarled at him. She jumped off in time to bring down the second Eraser with a sweep kick, using her right leg. He went down like a ton of bricks, and she flipped backwards, towards him, to bring her foot crashing down on his stomach. Winded, he stayed down, and she slammed her fist as fast as she could into his left temple, knocking him senseless.

As the group of Erasers ran for it, she looked around to see the flock, bloody and triumphant. She was about to remark on the abundance of blood, and how they were messy fighters, when she noticed that she looked exactly the same. At least it wasn't her blood. Most of it.

"How are you guys holding up?" she breathed, slightly winded herself. She was getting pretty rusty.

"Fine," said Angel and Gazzy.

"I'm good," grumbled Iggy.

"I'm fine too," agreed Nudge.

"We should get to this place of yours," said Fang, blood streaming down the side of his face.

Kat shrugged; "All right, then let's get going." She led the way and they followed right behind, even Fang. Kat frowned; she hadn't seen any Erasers in a while; not since the branch of Itex she and the flock had destroyed here in Seattle. She smiled at the memory of the beautiful burning building. It had been a good day, that day. Seattle at night was no less empty than any other city that time, and she tried to keep to the shadows so as to hide their bloody faces.

Iggy walked next to her, bending in so Fang wouldn't hear them. "Kat, I snitched some wires and a few loose explosives materials. Once we get to the house or whatever, I'll show you how to make 'em, then we come go find some place to blow 'em up, 'kay?"

"Kay," she breathed back, smiling. "We'll do it tomorrow, when I don't have work. I'll send off Fang and Nudge maybe to talk with Chi Kit. Or maybe I should send Angel," she frowned, thinking. "Who'd be less likely to spill it under pressure?"

"Angel might be better to send," he agreed, nodding. "It's a deal."

They tapped fists lightly; "Sweet."

* * *

Author's Note: 'Kay...so, the Erasers are back and Max is coming to the point of her patient sanity. Let's hope Fang didn't hear that little conversation, shall we?


	7. Rest Stop

School's Out--For Now  
By Holly-Batali

Disclaimer: I do not own Max, the flock, or any of the Itex nasties. I own Kat an' Chi Kit. Capiche?

Chapter Seven: Rest-Stop

"CHI KIT!"

Chi Kit jumped a good seven inches as an angry Kat--someone to be genuinely feared--stormed impressively into the Bat Cave, the doors swinging and banging dramatically behind her.

"_Shén me?_" he managed. The flock filed in quietly behind Kat, looking battered and bruised. Then he noticed how awful Kat looked; not that he would _tell _her that; not if he liked his ears where they were. Her clothes were torn and bloody. Her face and hands streaked with blood and her hair in dissaray. No _wonder _Li left all the tough customers to her!

"WHAT'DYA MEAN _WHAT_? YOU BONEHEAD!"

"What'd I do?" He asked in panic and confusion.

"Your gadgets," she hissed threateningly, her finger against Chi Kit's chest before he knew what hit him, "were supposed to detect any Itex activity in the area, you _moron._"

Oh.

Whoops.

"Well, I, uh. See," he said with a shaky laugh, "I wasn't really..."

Before he could say "Dungeons and Dragons", he was grabbed by his collar and slammed into the circuit breaker. "Hey!" he protested, "state of the art tech' here! Watch it!"

"You're in no position to talk. _Hŏuzì _boy." she snarled menacingly. Chi Kit gulped. "I'll only ask once. Why. Didn't. You. Warn. Us..._out with it_!"

"All right ! All right! I was getting into Li's mooncakes, I confess! Please don't kill me, Kat! I swear I'll never eat another moon cake as long as I live!"

"Stop sniveling, you worthless nerd," she said, disgusted.

"Okay," he sniveled.

* * *

"Well, apartment, sweet apartment," Kat muttered, flicking the light-switch to the penthouse apartment and twirling her housekeys on her finger. "Make yourselves at home. The Goldman's are in New York at some charity shmuck." Nudge jumped over to the couch and lay down, and Gazzy and Angel lay down on the floor in front of her. Fang took Iggy around to get his bearings, and Kat straddled one of the barstools at the counter.

"So what's the plan, Stan?" she asked when Fang and Iggy re-entered.

"Me? Why do you think we came to you?" scoffed Fang, embarrassed to admit it.

"Well, I just sort of _assumed _that you're filling in for Max." Without an answer, she turned and said to the group, "Okay. This place has two bedrooms. Gasman, Iggy; you guys'll take the first one. Nudge, Angel, and I will take the second. That is, if Fang doesn't mind taking the very cushy couch?" She turned to Fang.

"I'm cool." he said curtly.

"All righty then. Off to bed, you mangy scoundrels!"

They scurried around to get spare pillows and borrow pajamas, and then, over half an hour later, they were finally in bed; all except for Kat and Fang, anyway.

"Still drinking, eh?" said Fang, one eyebrow raised as Kat walked over to the kitchen table, carrying two large mugs of espresso.

"You're welcome," she said, deadpan. Kat sat down and they both sighed. Fang took a cautious sip of coffee and set his mug down on the table; Kat just held hers, staring at the table blankly. "Long day," she said finally, breaking her trance.

"Yup."

Kat glanced at him. "You miss her, don't you?"

Fang sighed, looking tiredly into his coffee mug. "Yup."

Kat nodded and took a drink. "Same here." After what must have been a few hours of brooding and silent coffee, Kat shifted and said, "You'd better get off to bed. I'll call Chi Kit in a few hours, see how the final adjustments are going." she looked out the window and frowned at the dawn. "Actually, I could probably call him now."

Fang nodded. "Thanks." he said. Kat raised her eyebrows. "For helping us out. We were kind of out of ideas. Well, they were, anyway."

Kat gave him a tight smile. "I'll grab you a blanket and a pillow. The couch is actually really comfortable." Fang nodded again. Kat exited and went over to the hallway closet, re-entering with a knit blanket and a spare pillow. She walked brusquely over to the couch and made a bed.

"Here you go," she said, gesturing to the couch. Fang looked up from the dredges in his coffee mug and nodded gratefully. He walked silently over to the couch and sat down. "I'll go call _Hŏuzì _boy and get things straightened out. He probably hasn't slept either; when he gets a project like this he latches on like a leech. Won't let go 'till it's sucked dry of any and all imperfections. Well, sweet lab-dreams bird-boy." She smiled and walked past the divider wall into the kitchen, which was now bright from the morning sun shining through the east wall, which was made of glass windows.

Fang heard the dialing of a phone and Kat sitting down on a bar stool. He heard her greet someone--most likely Chi Kit--in Chinese and ramble on. Fang didn't bother to listen; he wouldn't understand any of it anyways. Instead he buried his head in his pillow, smelling citrus and ginger, pulled the blanket around him, and fell asleep.

* * *

Chinese-English Dictionary:

_Hŏuzì--_monkey  
_Shén me--_what

* * *

Authors Note: Okay. I admit. I cheated. I said I wouldn't update till 6/1, but I had two or three full chapters to stories just sitting in my Documents file...and, obviously, I updated. So sue me.


	8. The Hunt is On

School's Out--For Now  
By Holly-Batali

Disclaimer: I don't own Max Ride, but I DO own Kat and Chi Kit, so THERE.

Chapter Eight: The Hunt is On

"Oi! Up and at 'em!"

Kat smirked in triumph as hands clapped over ears and wings spread out in alarm as her favorite mutant freaks leaped to their feet. She continued banging her pot with her wooden spoon and moving through the apartment. It was about time they were up. It wasn't her fault cats got up earlier than birds. _The early bird may get the worm, but the earlier cat gets the early bird...sucks to be the bird._

"Rise and shine minions!"

Nudge groaned and pulled her pillow over her head. "Kat," she whined, voice muffled. "It's like, six in the morning!"

"Uh, _no._" said Kat unsympathetically. "Try 'bout _nine-thirty._" she rolled her eyes. "I really need to get you a watch." she paused her banging, put her hands on her hips and stared at the ceiling thoughtfully. "Actually," she said, "I need to get _all _of you watches..." she trailed off suspiciously and flicked out her cell phone. The flock heard two musical beeps before it was at Kat's ear and she was pacing. "Chi Kit," she greeted, her face deadpanned. She threw her pot and spoon on the nearest couch and leaned again the nearest wall, wrapping her free arm around her waist. "_Nĭ hăo. _I need you to do me a favor. _Hăo. Hăo lė. __Shì. _I talked to you this morning...Yeah, I need _liù gė, _ASAP. Uh-huh. _Hăo lė. __Xiè xiè, Chi Kit._" She flipped the phone shut.

"Okay," she said energetically, jerking a thumb towards the apartment door. "Let's go, people. _ Move it!_"

* * *

"Chi Kit?" Kat let the shop door close behind her as the flock filed into the store in front of her.

"Chi Kit! Get your butt out here, or I'm coming back there." Iggy snickered as the sounds of Chinese cursing and tumbling boxes reached their ears. The metal double-doors burst open to reveal an unbalanced and panting Chi Kit. "I'm here! I'm here!"

Fang raised his eyebrows. "Why is you coming back there such a big deal?" he mumbled to Kat. She smirked evilly.

"This is usually when he hosts this area's weekly Dungeons and Dragons tournament, of course. Haven't you been competing too?"

Fang rolled his eyes. "Whatever." Kat grinned at her apparent victory. _Ah, the taste of defeat._

"So, Kat. What brings you here? Need anything fixed? I know your curling iron was having some problems last week--"

"Stow it, MacGyver. I just need some of the watches."

"Oh. Oh, well, okay, why didn't you just say so before? Jeez."

"Shut up and get the watches. Oh! And grab the uh, the uh," Kat snapped her fingers impatiently. "Those iPod thingies, too. We'll need those. Why didn't I think of this before?" she muttered to herself, miffed.

Chi Kit came back with the requested items and spread them out on the metal table in the middle of the room, turning on a blue light to replace the regular one.

"What's that for?" asked Nudge, looking up.

Chi Kit shrugged. "Dramatic effect. Okay, here we have my wonderful chat-watches--"

"Walkie talkies," filled in Kat.

Chi Kit rolled his eyes and continued. "...that you can use to communicate with each other from a distance of up to sixteen miles. Pretty impressive, if I must say so myself. The 'iPod thingies' as Kat so wonderfully puts it, are scanners, which you can use for just about everything. Fingerprints, residual radiation, mineral identification, or, as Kat no doubt wants them for, atmosphere density and pollution levels. Am I right?"

Kat nodded. "Yup."

"Why?" asked Fang, bored. "We're not Greenpeace, for crying out loud." Kat whacked him on the back of the head, hard and with a masterful wrist-flick implying hours of practice, probably on Chi Kit. "Ow!" protested Fang. "What was that for?"

"Hello? Earth to Fang? Itex uses a ton of chemical crap to experiment on all of their lab-rats, remember? If we can pick up on that, then we can get to Max. Gear up, people!"

"And don't forget the other gadgets," reminded Chi Kit. "I'll watch you from the city-wide sensors. I might be able to pick you up further," he added thoughtfully, "but I'd need time to reconfigure the sensors and rewrite the macro. Kat, do you think you could...?"

Kat sighed. "Yeah, fine." She turned to the flock. "You guys go ahead. Looks like _Hŏuzì _Boy needs some help from his lowly assistant."

Fang shrugged nonchalantly. "Fine. Come on guys, lets go."

* * *

Authors Note: Yes, it's short. Yes, it's taken me a freakin' long time to update, and yes, I apologize for that. I'll be updating MUCH sooner this time, and with a longer chapter.


	9. Game Plan

School's Out--For Now  
By Holly-Batali

Disclaimer: Don't own it. Except for Kat. And Chi Kit.

Chapter 9: Game Plan

Kat reclined in her chair, her feet propped up on the metal table, her face partially obscured by six face cards.. Chi Kit sat opposite her, his position reciprocal. Kat wore her famous--in the teenage community of Chinatown Seattle--poker face. Chi Kit sweated.

Kat tapped her hand of six cards. _"__Nĭ yŏu, méi yŏu sì?" _she asked, deadpanned.

Chi Kit sighed in relief. _"__Wŏ méi yŏu __sì. __Qù diào yŭ."_

Kat's eyebrows twitched, the only sign of her disappointment. She took a card from a stack on the table and continued.

_"__Nĭ yŏu, méi yŏu __sān?"_

Kat smirked. _"__Wŏ méi yŏu __sān. __Qù diào yŭ, H__ŏuzì Nánhaáí."_

Chi Kit groaned and took the last card, a five. The same as his other two cards. There was only one five left. He was tied with Kat, if he could just--

_"__Nĭ yŏu, méi yŏu __wŭ?"_

Chi Kit blinked, then he handed over both of his cards. She crowed in triumph and slapped her hand down on the table. Chi Kit blinked again and slammed his forehead onto the table, repeatedly slamming his fist next to it.

"Ah, the taste of defeat," Kat mocked him. "To think the D&D champion could loose Go Fish to the mutant. Ah, poetic justice!"

"Shut up," Chi Kit sulked.

_"Kat?"_

The pair jumped, turning to the computers on the far wall. Kat snatched up a headset and put it on, activating it. "Yeah?"

_"Still haven't found anything," _Iggy's voice said. _"Chi Kit, you got anything?"_

"I'm sorry, it appears my advice is no longer valid, seeing as though I can't play cards," the techie quipped sarcastically.

This was met by a brief silence. "...what?"

"Forget it. What do you need?" Pushing away from the table, Chi Kit's swivel chair spinning once before stopping exactly at his desk, as he knew it would; he practiced when Kat wasn't looking, just in case she thought to tease him--which she did anyway.

_"I need whatever you can give me, especially if you can give me something from your tracking devices."_

"Tracking, tracking..." muttered Chi Kit, his fingers flying across the keyboard. "Um...well, I'm not picking up anything in the standard Seattle boundaries but the occasional Eraser. Hang on, I need to recalibrate..." He typed at top-speed for a few moments, and the grid map on the computer screen swiveled to a new angle. "'Kay, I've got _you guys _on the sensors, but no Max."

He stopped for a minute. "Hang on. Did you guys say that Max had a chip implanted in her arm?"

_"Yeah, so?" _came Iggy's voice, impatient, but also interested; his inner geek was winning over.

"So," started Chi Kit, only to be interrupted by Kat.

"--So, if we can get a lock on that chip, then we won't need Chi Kit's sensors. All we need to do is pick up on the right frequency channel. She nudged Chi Kit's chair with her hip, pushing him out of the way. "Move over, _h__ŏuzì _boy." Fingers flying, she input computer code as fast as she could think it, sending out endless mental thanks to Feng Chi and Chi Kit for helping her with computers. She hit 'enter'.

"There," she and Chi Kit said at the same time. "Got her." Kat grabbed the headset from Chi Kit, slipping it quickly over her ears. "She's down by Lake Union Park. It's a docking area in the north section of the city."

_"Nice," _Iggy said appreciatively as Chi Kit and Kat shared a triumphant high-five. _"Chi Kit, got any ideas for going or, or should we just ambush?"_

"Ugh," Chi Kit grunted in disgust. "Hel_lo, _there is an _etiquette _to these things. You never just _ambush. _It has to be carefully--"

"I'll meet you outside Marina Mart on Garfield and Westlake in thirty," Kat said, already grabbing her combat boots from their undignified heap under one of the tables. "Meet me to the west side of the building."

_"Gottcha," _said Iggy. _"See ya in thirty. Iggy out." _He chuckled before signing off. _"Always wanted to say that."_

"Kat," Chi Kit protested as she hopped on one foot, trying to do up the laces on one of her boots. "You have no plan whatsoever, how are _you _going to be any help?"

"I'd be offended," she said, deadpanned, "But I don't have time if I'm going to catch the bus.

"You don't have a plan!" he objected one last time.

She winked at him as she pulled on her trademark zebra-stripe bucket hat.

"Come on, _hŏuzì _boy. I'm the Kat o' Nine Lives; I _always _have a plan."

* * *

A/N: SOOOOO sorry for not updating in, gee, I dunno, _forever. _Well, it's almost finished (yes, I know, it's way shorter than AE, but whatever). Reviews are always loved. REVIEW! PLEASE! Oh, and by the way: I've wanted to write that Go Fish scene forEVER. Hope you guys liked it. TODAY IS MY ONE-YEAR ANNIVERSARY FOR WRITING/POSTING FANFIC, SO REVIEWS ARE MUCH LOVED! And if you want to read the first fanfic, it's the prequel to this story, _The Angel Experience._


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